A Window on the Past – Fred and Mike Howard, South Portland brothers and baseball stars

On Sunday, November 7, 2021, the Maine Baseball Hall Fame conducted its 53rd annual induction ceremony. Among the inductees were former successful local high school baseball stars Charlie Furbush, Deering graduates Ryan Flaherty and Ryan Reid and Mt. Ararat’s Mark Rogers, all of whom later played for major league baseball teams.

The South Portland Historical Society museum is open for the 2022 season with a new exhibit covering the history of baseball. Open hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The museum is located in Bug Light Park, on South Portland’s eastern waterfront. South Portland Historical Society photo

Furbush is the most recent South Portland graduate with the ability to compete at the major league level, initially drafted by the Detroit Tigers and completing his career with the Seattle Mariners.

Prior to 1965, amateur baseball players were free to sign with any Major League team that offered them a contract. As a result, wealthier teams such as the New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers were able to stockpile young talent. More opportunities existed for players to sign as most Major League teams commonly stocked upwards of 10 minor league teams, ranging from several rookie league teams, classes D, C, B, A, AA and AAA.

Today, most organizations control the talent for one or two rookie teams, with one team each at the A, AA and AAA levels.

Commencing in 1965 with the first amateur baseball draft, along with a reduction in the number of minor league teams, there was less opportunity for players to join the professional baseball ranks. Since 1965, South Portland High School has developed a disproportionate number of talented players joining the pro ranks.

The list includes 1970 graduate George Beattie, Jim Beattie (1972), Fred Howard (1974), Mike Howard (1975), Bill Swift (1980), Vinnie Degifico (1983), Steve Loubier (1983) and, most recently, Furbush (2004).
Jim Beattie (Yankees and Mariners), Fred Howard (White Sox), Swift (Mariners, Giants and Rockies) and Furbush (Tigers and Mariners) all enjoyed Major League participation.

Mike Howard, a South Portland High School graduate, was drafted by the Boston Red Sox. South Portland Historical Society image

Through the next several months, we plan on highlighting successful South Portland graduate brothers or father-son tandems who achieved success after high school in higher athletic levels.

Those who qualify are Bill Swift with sister Cathy and father Herb, George and Jim Beattie, Fred and Mike Howard, Dick and Bob Curry, John Sr. and John Gleason Jr., and football’s Bob and Charlie Hews.

Today, we will highlight the achievements of brothers Fred and Mike Howard. Graduating in consecutive years (Fred in 1974 and Mike in 1975), the boys were Red Riot teammates on the high school and Morrill Post Legion summer baseball squads.

Even though he was one year younger than his brother, Mike was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the sixth round of the 1975 Major League draft. With a pitching record of only 3 wins with 3 losses, the baseball scouts still liked his 6-foot 2-inch, 185-pound frame and 87 strikeouts in only 552/3 innings pitched to envision potential professional success.

After captaining the 1974 Riot team and earning All-Telegram League honors, the equally hard-throwing Fred attended Miami-Dade College in Florida in 1975.

The following year, Fred was a sixth-round choice of the Chicago White Sox.

Both boys achieved numerous achievements as they progressed through each organization’s developmental teams. In his first season, Mike was selected to the all-star team of the New York-Penn Rookie League, posting an 8-1 record for the championship Elmira Pioneers. During the 1976 through 1978 seasons, Mike continued his successful development through the Red Sox A-level teams achieving a personal best 12-3 record and leading the league in strikeouts as a leader of league champion Winston-Salem of the Carolina League.

By the 1980 season, Mike had made the 40-man Boston Red Sox roster and was assigned to the AA Bristol Red Sox of the Eastern League (the same league as the current Portland Sea Dogs), where he posted a 10-5 record, earning a promotion to AAA Pawtucket toward the season’s completion.

After a successful winter all-star season for Magallanes of the Venezuela Professional League, Mike’s ascension through the Sox organization found him in AAA Pawtucket for the 1981 season where, unfortunately, arm problems started to plague his future aspirations. Chronic arm problems curtail his professional years after the 1982 season.

Fred Howard, also a graduate of South Portland High School, was drafted by the Chicago White Sox. South Portland Historical Society image

Fred followed a similar pattern as his younger brother as he progressed through the White Sox minor league organizations. The 6-foot-3-inch pitcher toiled for eight seasons beginning with the Class A Appleton, Wisconsin, squad, then the Sarasota rookie league team, achieving all-star status in both leagues.

After promotions and successful seasons in AA Knoxville, the 1978 league champions, and AAA Des Moines, Fred made his Major League debut on May 26, 1979, against the California Angels. He went on to appear in 28 games, six as a starting pitcher, and posted a 1-5 record.

Later that same year, Maine fans remember Fred’s relief appearance against the Red Sox at Fenway Park where he pitched three scoreless innings, striking out both Dwight Evans and Rick Burleson in the eighth inning leaving Butch Hobson, who had started the inning with a triple, stranded at third base.

Fred pitched for four more seasons in the White Sox organization, never to see the Major League diamond again. After baseball, Fred attended the University of Missouri School of Medicine, and currently serves as a general surgeon in Lake Wales, Florida.

A couple notables from Fred Howard’s one season on the South Side of Chicago:

• His first manager with the 1979 White Sox was Don Kessinger, an all-star shortstop with the Cubs, who was finishing his career as one of the last player-managers in the Major Leagues.

When Kessinger resigned in early August, a 34-year-old Tony LaRussa took over and began his Hall of Fame managing career. LaRussa returned to the White Sox dugout last season and is managing again in 2022 at the age of 77.

• Fred Howard was the starting pitcher for the White Sox on July 12, 1979, aka, Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park.
Disco Demolition was a Bill Veeck promotion that went awry. Thousands of fans in an unruly, overflow crowd of 50,000 descended on the field between games of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers. The second game was ruled a forfeit because of dangerous field conditions.

Fred Howard took the loss for the White Sox. He went 51/3 innings, allowing four runs (two of them unearned) on six hits in the 4-1 loss. He walked two and struck out four Detroit batters.

Note: The South Portland Historical Society’s museum at Bug Light Park is open for the 2022 season. This year’s featured exhibit, Play Ball!, covers the history of baseball in South Portland. The Play Ball! exhibit is generously sponsored by Marc Gup Real Estate Group at Keller Williams, Noyes Hall & Allen Insurance, and Town & Country Federal Credit Union. The museum is currently open Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you are interested in volunteering, please call 767-7299 or email the Society at sphistory04106@gmail.com.

Alan Livingston is a board member of the South Portland Historical Society. The society can be reached at sphistory04106@gmail.com.

Editor Dan King, a lifelong White Sox fan, contributed to this report. He spent many an afternoon and evening at Comiskey Park in 1970s and ‘80s.